To illustrate my point, I would like to share a short story which I read and have kept as my collection of a trust relationship with all of you. Here goes:-

A little girl and her father were crossing a bridge.
The father was kind of scared so he asked his little daughter:
“Sweetheart, please hold my hand so that you don’t fall into the river.” The little girl said:
“No, Dad. You hold my hand.”
“What’s the difference?” Asked the puzzled father.

“There’s a big difference,” replied the little girl.
“If I hold your hand and something happens to me, chances are that I may let your hand go. But if you hold my hand, I know for sure that no matter what happens, you will never let my hand go.”

In any relationship, the essence of trust is not in its bind, but in its bond. So hold the hand of the person whom you love rather than expecting them to hold yours…

So, the question that our beloved Prime Minister must asked himself is whether he has held the our hands and not let go when we needed him most. If he has, then he will definitely have our trust. But if he has not held our hands when we needed him, and instead expected us to hold his hand, then we will let go and he will not have our hands as he isn’t holding on to them.

See? People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care! I mean really care! Not abandon them when there is pressure.

Readers, do you get my message?

I hope our beloved Prime Minister has held onto our hands when we needed him most.

God bless Malaysia.

Yes, thoughts are the origins of all believes and actions that can lead to success or failure, joy or sadness, bliss or sufferings. “We are what we think. Whether we think we can or we think we cannot, we are right!” (Henry Ford).

The 15 defilements of greed, ill-health, envy, jealousy, hostility, hypocrisy, obstinacy, vanity, arrogance, presumption, conceit, denigration, dominance, fraud and negligence are the seeds of sufferings. These defilements are negative thoughts which create negative results in our lives to cause us sufferings and miseries. Fortunately, the Buddha has provided us with the six ways (Restraining; Using; Tolerating; Avoiding; Destroying; Developing) to remove these defilements from our minds. When practiced earnestly, we will master and calm our minds and be able to remove these defilements, thus, eliminating sufferings.

1. Restraining
We should restrain from all that pleases our minds but are poisons to us. For example, most of the popular fast food in the market today is what nutritionists would call junk food. They are bad for our hearts and our health and yet we consume them like there is no tomorrow! We tend to not want to believe what health advocates inform us but instead prefer to accept the messages transmitted to us by the fast food companies through their advertisements. Also, sugar is sweet to our taste, but is a major cause of diabetes which can harm us in so many organs of our bodies. Yet, the amount of Coca-cola drunk is frighteningly high! The forbidden fruits are sweeter syndrome seem to manifest itself to dictate the way we live and behave!

Thus, when we develop the discipline to restrain from what is not good for our body, mind and spirit, we would cause a positive mental attitude to be formed.

2. Using
Use all that we are, all that we have, all there is, to cultivate peace. Dedicate our talents and our resources and use them for the good of ourselves and our
communities.

Every one of us has the talent and potential to be great and do great things.
Yes, do not under estimate the little things that we can do. What all the little
things that each of us do will eventually culminate into big things. The ripple
of a single butterfly’s wings flapping can cause a tornado! Ordinary people
can really do extraordinary things!

Use what little resources we have to better our lives and all that surround us.
Do everything that we do with our best intention and efforts and we will
create an environment of harmony and goodwill, thus creating happiness for
all. Make it our habits to improve ourselves each day so that, tomorrow, we will be better than we are today. As we improve ourselves little by little, day by day, we will without our awareness become much better humans. Use our talents and endowments to do all the good we can to make our world a better place for all. Remember that how we do anything is how we do everything and how we do everything is how we do anything!

— Unknown

After one has found what one truly want, and set one’s goals, one will then get down to drawing up a plan or road-map for achieving them.

As said by Paul J. Meyer, when one has a goal and the plan to work toward its attainment, the journey is already 50% successful!

Thus, knowing what one wants, set the goals and then draw a plan for action and persistently work the plan, successful is inevitably attained.

Plan your work, work your plan.

Heed the advice given by Mary Kay, a highly successful entrepreneur, who built a large personal care product company that spans across the world.

Invest time in seeking what we desire,  have interests in, and passion for. Then set our goals, organize our plans and consistently and persistently pursue them. Along the way, we may face challenges that will be easier to quit, but don’t, face temporary set-backs, learn from them and find out what adjustments need to be made to move forward to the next step of actions. Persist till you succeed!

Slowly, but surely, all who set goals, organize plans and act on them persistently will reap handsome rewards along the way.

Know what you want and pursue them passionately and persistently!